Ri Myung-hun
Ri at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport in May 1997
Personal information
Born (1967-09-14) 14 September 1967
North Korea
Listed height235 cm (7 ft 9 in)
Listed weight128 kg (282 lb)
PositionCenter
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
리명훈
Hancha
Revised RomanizationRi Myeong-hun
McCune–ReischauerRi Myŏnghun

Ri Myung-hun (Korean: 리명훈; born 14 September 1967), also known as Michael Ri after his favorite basketball player Michael Jordan,[1] is a North Korean former basketball player. At a height of 235 cm (7 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and a weight of 128 kg (282 lb), he is believed to be the tallest person in North Korea.

Basketball career

Ri played the center position for the national basketball team of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Once proclaimed to be the tallest living human being in the world,[2] he stands 236 cm (7 ft 9 in) tall and once planned to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1990s.[1] According to the Associated Press, he was "the world's tallest basketball player."[3]

In anticipation of joining the NBA, Ri worked out in Canada, where he was scouted by numerous teams. But he was unable to play in the league because of a U.S. ban on trade set forth in a piece of legislation called the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917.[1] The U.S. Department of State permitted Ri to compete in the country in 2000, on the main condition that none of Ri's salary could be repatriated to North Korea. North Korean officials responded by refusing to let Ri leave.[1] Kim Jong-il told NBA scout Tony Ronzone he would allow Ri to leave North Korea and play professional basketball if the team paid Kim's government in wheat.[4] Ri was permitted to conduct an interview with CNN's Mike Chinoy in which he was quoted as saying, "I'm a big man. I want to test my ability. I am not interested in money or politics. As a sportsman, I just want to try."[2] Eventually, Ri said he was content to remain playing basketball in the "bosom" of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il.[1] In a game between mixed teams of players from North Korea and South Korea, Ri scored 26 points in 21 minutes, though his "dankyol" (solidarity) side lost 141–138.[3]

Personal life

On 28 December 2011, North Korean television showed footage from the funeral of Kim Jong-il in which an unusually tall person was seen in the crowd. The person was speculated to have been Ri Myung-hun.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Zeigler, Mark (29 October 2006). "The oddest fan". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  2. 1 2 Chinoy, Mike (25 September 1998). "North Korean's hoop dreams a tall order: World's tallest man aims for NBA". CNN. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  3. 1 2 "World's tallest player: Ri stands out, packs stadium in Seoul". CNN Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. 23 December 1999. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  4. ↑ Titus, Mark (30 July 2014). "My Trip to NBA Scout School". Grantland. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  5. ↑ Hooton, Christopher (30 December 2011). "'Giant North Korean soldier' rumoured to be basketball star Ri Myung Hun". Retrieved 1 January 2012.


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